LAUSD spares cuts to Black Student Achievement Plan, but future uncertain for equity index 

Students attend a College Day as part of LAUSD’s Black Student Achievement Plan.

Credit: Courtesy of Micheal Pile, LAUSD

The Los Angeles Unified school board voted Tuesday to restore much of the funding it had proposed cutting from its Black Student Achievement Plan, a victory for students and advocates who warned the reductions would devastate services. But the district’s Student Equity Needs Index remains slated for hundreds of millions in cuts, leaving questions about the future of equity-focused funding in the nation’s second largest district.  

Under the original proposal, BSAP would have lost $100 million during both the 2027-28 and 2028-29 fiscal years, leaving advocates concerned that the program would have seen a 86% reduction in funding by the 2027-28 academic year.

To applause and cheers, board members Kelly Gonez and Karla Griego introduced amendments to maintain BSAP funding. 

“I’m glad about how it turned out, but at the same time disappointed that it even had to get to this point,” said Ezekiel Getachew, an incoming senior at King Drew Magnet High School. 

The first amendment, introduced by Gonez, restored $50 million to the Black Student Achievement Plan in fiscal year 2027-28 by making additional cuts to central office positions, reducing the Los Angeles School Police Department budget and eliminating a student metro pass program. 

The board is expected to consider a revised plan in September that would  restore another $25 million, increasing BSAP’s budget to $100 million in 2027-28. 

“Staff will prioritize restoration of BSAP and SENI programs with additional revenue, with funding going to the highest needs school first,” the amendment reads. 

The second amendment, brought forward by Griego, removes the program  from the fiscal stabilization plan for the 2028-29 fiscal year entirely by drawing $175 million from a trust dedicated to post-employment benefits. 

“It shouldn’t be that every time we have issues with funding, or getting budgets together, that the first thing that we look towards is cutting programs that Black students need, or Brown students need,” Getachew said. 

While the board’s amendments largely spared the Black Student Achievement Plan, the outlook for the Student Equity Needs Index remains more dire. 

Even with the changes, under the fiscal stabilization plan, SENI would lose  $400 million in 2027-28 and another $500 million in 2028-29. The SENI reductions could also eliminate roughly 4,500 full time equivalent positions districtwide. 

The cuts come as Los Angeles Unified and districts across the state grapple with mounting financial difficulties largely driven by the loss of Covid relief money, rising costs and declining enrollments. LAUSD also has to meet the demands of labor contracts ratified Tuesday that will cost the district $1.2 billion annually. 

Currently, the L.A. Unified is anticipating a $1.3 billion deficit in the 2027-28 school year and a projected $3.6 billion deficit for the 2028-29 school year. 

“These realities require us to carefully balance our aspirations for students with our responsibility to ensure the financial stability of the district,” said L.A. Unified interim superintendent Andres Chait at Tuesday’s meeting. “At the same time, our commitment to students remains unchanged.” 

Already, the programs represent a relatively small share of LAUSD’s more than $18 billion budget. Within the district’s $7.35 billion unrestricted general fund for the 2026-27 year, SENI accounts for 8.2% at $601 million, and BSAP accounts for 1.7% at $125 million. 

LAUSD said in a statement to EdSource that it is committed to supporting students’ academic and social-emotional needs, including through environment programs and counselling. 

“At the same time, the District is facing significant financial pressures that require a careful and responsible review of all spending,” the district said. “These decisions are not made lightly. We have an obligation to ensure that our resources are aligned with sustainable funding levels so we can continue to serve students effectively not just today, but well into the future.”

BSAP’s impact 

Mariyah Williams, a recent graduate of San Pedro High School, said LAUSD’s Black Student Achievement Plan played an important role in helping her reach graduation.  

“Knowing that there are Black adults on campus that understand what I’m going through, and having that there for me as a resource, is amazing,” she said. 

BSAP directs additional staff and resources to schools that collectively serve about one-third of the district’s Black students. Those resources include additional counseling and restorative justice staff, cultural activities and visits to historically Black colleges and universities. 

Williams said her school’s BSAP staff provided academic guidance and helped her navigate emotional hardships. 

This isn’t the first storm BSAP has had to weather. The program faced political and legal challenges. In 2023, the conservative group Parents Defending Education filed a complaint alleging that BSAP violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. 

In response, LAUSD adjusted the program in response saying it would account for additional factors beyond race when determining eligibility. And in 2025, the district increased its budget  to $175 million for the 2025-26 budget.

District officials and community members credit BSAP with helping improve outcomes for Black students. Since BSAP’s launch, A-G completion among Black students has risen  from 40% to 53.7%, according to the district dashboard. Access to mental and socio-emotional health also rose by roughly 20 percentage points while parental engagement and participation in extracurriculars have also grown. 

“If you just provide loving, caring educators and staff that are directed to build relationships and be committed and affirm young people’s culture and their community, then you have a whole different type of school experience, a whole different type of outcomes,” said Christian Flagg, the director of youth organizing at Community Coalition, a local grassroots organization that works to promote equity in Los Angeles schools.

Impact on SENI 

Meanwhile, advocates warned that the cuts to SENI, which were left unchanged by Tuesday’s amendments, could threaten the program’s existence. 

“We are so troubled and concerned and alarmed that a district that has been touted to be an equity champion across the state — even celebrated — at having something like SENI and BSAP really first and most substantially,” said Day Son, the senior manager of K-12 policy at Catalyst California, which helped develop SENI. 

For more than a decade, SENI has used a range of indicators — including academic and community conditions such as  prevalence of gun violence — to direct additional  funding  to schools with the greatest needs. 

At some campuses, those dollars pay for 10 to 15 additional staff members, including counselors, restorative justice teachers and community representatives who engage in outreach, Son said. Some schools also use the funding to support programs such as career technology programs, and pay for supplies. 

SENI has been found to help improve English language arts outcomes for  socioeconomically disadvantaged students and English learners. An  analysis by Catalyst California found that the proposed cuts would disproportionately affect the students the program was designed to serve.  About 30% of English learners attend SENI’s highest-need schools, and Black and Latinx students would also be among the most heavily impacted. 

“If we can only do equity in times of abundance and we can’t do equity when it’s times of margin, when it’s hard, then what is equity?” Son said.  “What does that mean to even commit and prioritize equity?”